If you want to watch a master at work, observe Apple's timing of product launches. It's one of the underrated aspects of the American giant's prodigious and prolonged success, but it's been instrumental. Today's long-awaited MacBook Pro redesign is just the latest example, coming swiftly on the heels of Apple reporting declining earnings and Microsoft announcing an eye-catching new PC — both of which are liable to be avalanched by excited chatter about Apple's exciting new laptop.In a previous article, I addressed the point that being first to launch a new product or technology is no guarantee of success. LG had the first phone with a capacitive touchscreen, but it was Apple's iPhone that now stands as the iconic smartphone device (literally; when people draw smartphone icons for their related products, they use the iPhone's shape and globally recognizable home button). Microsoft and HP collaborated on the Slate tablet, but it was Apple's subsequent iPad that has defined what we mean by that category of portable computer. In both instances, Apple was later than competitors, but it waited until it had perfected both the design of the device and the economics underpinning it before launching.